lubna juqqa

Do you have a passion for music and want to make it your career? Do you have an idea for a business in the music industry? Or the answer to a problem musicians face? Disrupt!/Music!/ might be the perfect event to help you turn your idea into a reality. We talked to Mohamad Ismail of Indiepush to learn more about the event.

Can you tell us more about the event?

Disrupt!/Music!/ is part of a training series created and supported by HIVOS Mideast Creatives. Disrupt events are held throughout the Middle East andprovide training and financial support for participants who are implementing projects or businesses within the creative industry sectors, such as music, design, animation, publishing, film or media.

Disrupt!/Music!/ is all about music and giving life to great, creative, and disruptive ideas by supporting dedicated people to take their ideas to the next level.

The event, which takes place over three days starting March 24th at the Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC) in the King Hussein Business Park, is organized by Belbalah, a new agency that supports the alternative and independent music scene in the Middle East, feesheh, and indiepush, and is sponsored by HIVOS Mideast Creatives. The first day is relaxed and approximately three hours, and is intended to be an ice-breaker and introduction to the activities of the following two days, which include business model training, three hours of music industry workshops and three hours of music marketingconducted by Budi Voogt from Heroic Records, Middle East music industry mentoring from Abed Agha of Vinelabs, and one-on-one mentoring sessions with experts from business, startups, and creative industries, such as Tamer Masri founder of Jobedu, experienced entrepreneur Zaid Masri, Shermine Sawalha founder of Malahi, Wael Attili founder of Kharabeesh, Lubna Juqqa of MidEasttunes, Mahmood Jrere of DAM rap group and founder of Indiepush, and Maher Jilani founder of Plexable, among others.

Approximately 20 teams will enhance their music business or project ideas through the mentoring and workshops, and pitch to an independent jury who will select the best three ideas and teams. The prizes, which include 6,000 EUR in cash prizes (3,000 for first place, 2,000 for second, and 1,000 for third place), and Zoomaal credits for crowdfundable projects worth $1,000 will be distributed among the winners as well.

What impact do you hope Disrupt!/Music!/ will have?

We are bringing together a great collection of people who are involved in the local and international music industry (artists, entrepreneurs, successful label owners, agents, as well as business, music and creative industry mentors), with a two-fold intention. 1) Help people in the region who are either just starting or thinking about starting a project or business in music enhance and take their idea to the next level, and 2) impact the local players already operating in the emerging scene by connecting them with key people and institutions that are working to grow, invest, and develop the industry. In addition, the workshops we’ve designed address the main pain-points, that we, as a community, must not only address but solve to move the emerging music scene beyond part-time hobbyist and into an industry that is able to sustain respectable livelihoods for the people working within it- the musicians, producers, studios, managers, agents, and entrepreneurs. That’s why, for example, we’re bringing Budi Voogt of Heroic Records and Abed Agha from Vinelabs, to be the main trainers and mentors of the event. They have both built successful and profitable music businesses, one in the European market and one in the Middle East, that address, at their core, the artistic and business needs of the musicians they work with.

Any other details you would like readers to know?

The deadline to apply is March 15th. and the application, which is very simple, can be submitted in both Arabic or English, and is found here: Mideastcreatives.org.

We encourage all applications. We are seeing artistic people being timid about applying because of the business element. We want them to know that all things aside, what we are really looking for are passionate, dedicated people who want to bring their ideas to life or enhance the ones they are pursuing. The event is intended to support people who are passionate about the emerging scene, so we are open to all and any ideas and people who truly want to do just that, Disrupt music here.

Interested in learning more about the event? Visit the event’s page on Facebook and Mideast Creatives’ website.
Mideast Creatives will also be hosting a similar training event in Cairo for performing artists from April 8-10, 2016.

This article was originally published on BarakaBits on March 14, 2016.